Life in cyclone ravaged Fiji and Samoa is starting to get back to normal, with hopes the tourism industry in both countries will bounce back.

A state of natural disaster has been declared in the Northern and Western Divisions of Fiji in the wake of Cyclone Evan, which hit the country this week after killing at least four people in Samoa last week.

National Disaster Management Office director Manasa Tagicakibau said the order would allow authorities to speed up rehabilitation work, which began yesterday.

Fiji's Tourism Secretary Elizabeth Powell said the military had been dispatched to help the hotels as well as residents.

Nearly all major hotels in Fiji have reported only minor damage and the Coral Reef area was close to fully operational, Powell said.

Tourism is one of the main industries in Fiji and in the coming months it will be relied upon even more while primary industries work to get back on their feet, she said.

CLEAN UP BEGINS

A New Zealander who's spent the last few days at the Hilton resort on Denarau with his family said the mood among tourists was "flat".

"I think a lot of people feel quite bad, they understand that Fiji has been hit with a phenomenal storm but at the same time it's not the Fiji that every one signed up for," Fairfax reporter Marc Hinton said.

Hinton said power was still out in many places and in their hotel only the lights were working, as there was no power for air conditioning or anything else.

The beaches were strewn with debris and all the pools were still closed.

He said the number of tourists at the hotel had "thinned out" but a backlog of waiting passengers at the airport meant some guests had reluctantly returned to the hotel.

But while yesterday the clean up had officially begun, Hinton said today marked the first signs of assemblance or normalcy.

"Walking out of the hotels for the first time, there was just debris everywhere. Trees were uprooted, fences torn down and blown everywhere and it was really about assessing what had happened.

"Today the clean up has really gotten under way."

The recovery has also begun for Samoa's tourism industry.

The iconic Aggie Grey's Hotel on Apia's waterfront had been closed since it was flooded when the cyclone hit Samoa last Thursday.

Staff had been working to remove the silt from the ground floor and hope to open again soon.

"The cleanup is expected to be completed by the 23rd and the hotel will open on the 24th," said Aggie Grey's Resort general manager Theresa Sing.

All guests from the hotel had been moved to the Aggie Grey's beach resort 27km from Apia.

So far there had been only one cancellation.

Apia city had been flooded and electricity has only just returned to the main township. Major supermarkets were now beginning to open.

At the resort no services had been hindered during the storm.

"We have been fully operational, no shortage of food, electricity or water," Sing said.

Tourists were continuing to fly to Samoa and only four reservations had been cancelled, said Laura Wadsworth managing director at Sunseeker Travel.